Saturday, April 30, 2011

I know he was speaking metaphorically, and that he didn't intend it to sound the way it did, but come on. Romney has got to be more careful than this.

Expected Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney tread on socially dangerous ground last night as he talked about the need to "hang" a misery index around the neck of Barack Obama, the nation's first black president.

Here's Romney's statement in full context as to avoid any confusion (emphasis mine):

"You remember during the Ronald Reagan/Jimmy Carter debates? That Ronald Reagan came up with this great thing about the 'misery index,' and that he hung that around Jimmy Carter's neck, and that had a lot to do with Jimmy Carter losing. Well, we're going to have to hang the 'Obama Misery Index' around his neck. And, I'll tell you, the fact that you've got people in this country, really squeezed, with gasoline getting so expensive, with commodities getting so expensive, families are having a hard time making ends meet. So, we're going to have to talk about that, and housing foreclosures and bankruptcies and higher taxation. We're going to hang him — uh, so to speak, metaphorically — with, uh, with, uh — you have to be careful these days, I've learned that, with an Obama Misery Index."

According to the report, the audience reaction was a mix of nervous laughter with applause. ...Applause. There is video out there that cuts off Romney's last few words as he tries to clarify his comments, which is why I'm almost certain this is going to be taken out of context and someone will run with it. But I doubt it will be Andrew Breitbart.

Some helpful advice for Mitt Romney. Don't speak off the cuff and STAY AWAY from "neck hanging" metaphors when running against a black man!

Friday, April 29, 2011

Desert Crone is a long time reader and posted a comment today in light of the Trump/long form birth certificate/Manchurian candidate/fear mongering/boo whitey! fiasco. And I think it's important enough to make it a post of its own.

Slavery began over 500 years ago, but it has never ended. To understand the impact of slavery, which decimated the African continent--the effect of which we see today--you must imagine if slave traders came to America and stole our strongest, healthiest, smartest, youngest members of our society. The impact of that would be felt for generations. But even after slavery ended, Jim Crow laws were implemented to keep African-Americans out of the voting booth, public places, and schools. It was even illegal for them to learn to read. Ask yourself how long it would have taken America to recover from 500+ years of that kind of human destruction and oppression. For those of you who dismiss slavery as an episode in American history, or who say blacks should get over it, then shame, shame on you.

And for those of you who oppose affirmative action because it discriminates against whites, well, where have you been for the last 40 years? Why didn't you complain about discrimination against people of color? Do you really think people of color aren't discriminated against every day? How naive you must be! We owe African-Americans a chance at America's colleges; we owe them a shot at the best jobs. We owe them because America kept them under a whip and bootheel for 500+ years. So stop whining about fairness--affirmative action is FAIR. It gives a fair shot to those people who have suffered unspeakable horrors throughout our history.

Excuse me while I pick up the shattered remains of my jaw off the floor.

"We have a high percentage of blacks in prison, and that's tragic," Kern said, "but are they in prison just because they are black or because they don't want to study as hard in school?

"I've taught school," she added, "and I saw a lot of people of color who didn't study hard because they said the government would take care of them."

Wow. That's Oklahoma State Republican Rep. Sally Kern's explanation for why she supports an amendment to eliminate Affirmative Action in the state government. But not to worry, Kern is not just anti-black, she's an all-around bigot.

Kern has a long history of bringing controversy to the Oklahoma House. She has introduced a bill to ban Sharia law in the state, and another that would allow teachers to question evolution. Kern also claimed that "gays are infiltrating city councils" and gay people are "the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam, which I think is a big threat."

Thursday, April 28, 2011

After President Obama released his long form birth certificate yesterday, in an impossible attempt to quell the crazy birther conspiracy that has been bubbling up for the last three years, fueled by wingnuts and fear mongers and stoked by mealy-mouthed Republican politicians, I wrote a post out of anger and posted it to Facebook.

Soon enough a friend commented on Facebook, and thought that this issue wasn't serious, it was technically a rule in the Constitution, but so what? Would it really be such a big deal if President Obama weren't a citizen? Don't we have bigger problems in the country than to waste time dealing with this nonsense? Of course, the answer is yes. But when nearly half of the country's Republican voters doubt the legitimacy of the person holding the office of the President of the United States, and there is tacit approval by their party's leaders by not denouncing it, and it's being poked and prodded like a scab by a complicit media, something else is going on.

Here was my response:

We care because since the very beginning, those that are afraid of "the other" have been trying to delegitimize this president. They're even passing laws in states specifically for the purpose of omitting Obama's name from the ballot.

You may not consider it technically important and I understand that there are much more important things to worry about, but there are a lot of people out there who will do or say anything to undermine the leader of the free world. Let that sink in for a minute.

And now the very same people that have clamored about wanting to see the long form birth certificate are claiming is a forgery, it isn't good enough, he was adopted, and even asking for his school records now. When is enough enough? Is Donald Trump going to release his tax returns now as he promised to do? If we see Obama's school records, do we now get to see George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard records?

And don't dismiss that this is all ultimately about race. While Obama's birth certificate proved that he is an American citizen born in the United States, it also proved that he's still not white, so the fight will live on.

Yes, it's not about a Constitutional violation, it's about race. Always has been. Otherwise, the issue would have been settled with his long form release. But it's only caused the freaks to double down on the crazy. You don't have to look far for examples so I won't innumerate them here.

But this video of Baratunde Thurston's reaction to yesterday's news and the despicable actions of Donald Trump taking credit for it is why this story is important and why it matters.

Everyone has a breaking point, and President Obama finally reached his, when it came to the Birther bullshit anyway.

Responding to critics' relentless claims, President Barack Obama on Wednesday produced a detailed Hawaii birth certificate in an extraordinary attempt to bury the issue of where he was born and confirm his legitimacy to hold office. He declared, "We do not have time for this kind of silliness.

..."I am confident that the American people and America's political leaders can come together in a bipartisan way and solve these problems. We always have. But we're not going to be able to do it if we are distracted."

..."This issue has been going on for two, two and a half years now. I think it started during the campaign," Obama said. "I have watched with bemusement, I've been puzzled at the degree at which this thing just kept on going."

"We're not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers," the president said.

And yes, you can be sure that the "carnival barker" dig was aimed at Donald Trump.

Now we can all sit back with confidence and know that the "Birther conspiracy" story will die off in favor of the "Obama Long Form Birth Certificate is a Forgery" stories whichhavealreadysurfaced, complete with a fully complicit mainstream media.

And ultimately, while I understand the premise of the White House's decision to release a long form birth certificate, they had to know that this story would only stoke the flames in the forgery department. So really, how have they tamped down the distraction?

Oh, and a big "FUCK YOU" to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Fuckwadistan) who was surprised that the White House took this route and shocked that they would actually try to appease the fucking crazies in his own goddamned party after three years of loony bin talk. Please point to the story where Cantor said Trump was being a douche with the birther nonsense.

Oh, and how can I forget Weeper of the House John Boehner for calling this a "long settle issue"? Wish he had said something even remotely similar when asked about it on Meet The Press. While he believes Obama, it "wasn't his job" to call out the birther fruitcakes in his own party. That's leadership, huh?

So now we can all finally enjoy Donald "Take The Oil" Trump talk about important things like foreign policy and get some laughs out of it in the process.

Today the President of the United States released a superfluous document to confirm for a radical populous that he was, in fact, born in the USA. Some ask why he didn't do this sooner, and at times I wished he would just to shut people up. But he didn't need to. The document he released during the campaign is legitimate, authentic, legal and sufficient. It should have stopped there. And because it didn't says more about the people who demanded it than the President who didn't jump through Hawaii state hurdles to access it.

The birther crap has been a nuisance and ridiculous and, as the President clarified, a side-show of "carnival barkers." And the real problem is that those are the people who now represent a SIGNIFICANT portion of the Republican party whether your Republican friends and neighbors want to admit it.

I have said, since Sarah Palin entered the national stage, that the Republicans in America better watch out because their party was being changed by their fringe. And that has more than come true. Does the left have fringe? Yes, and often a fringe I denounce and slam. But never have our fringe polled above or equal to serious candidates. Do I like Romney or Huckleberry? No. But they are at least legitimate contenders for the GOP. They have serious resumes and have contributed valuable discussions to public service agendas.

But Donald Trump? And Sarah Palin? And Michele Bachmann?

NEVER did Dennis Kucinich come CLOSE to Democratic serious contenders in any polling.

Republicans may not agree with Obama, but at least he can be taken seriously.

So, for the Republicans who are shamed by the path their party has taken, I say, "So now what?" What are YOU going to do to show that your party is serious? Are you going to continue to be passive shoulder-shruggers or are you going to take some personal responsibility and put an end to the waste and distractions coming from people taking your party from you?

Because, in the end, you and your friends are the ones being encroached upon. Your principles and values are being manipulated by snake-oil salesmen and those snakes are winning YOUR future.

Have your disagreements with me and my party and the President. That's good. But for crying out loud, clean house!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Despite a public call by Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) to pray for rain over the weekend, major wildfires continue to rage on across the state.

Already an estimated 1.5 million acres of Texas has burned this year, according to the Texas Forest Service. Thunderstorms rolled through the state over the weekend, but lightning strikes accompanied the rain, setting the stage for a challenging wildfire week ahead that will draw upon limited resources.

How soon before Gov. Secession McTeabagger asks for federal help? God certainly does has a sense of humor, no?

I don't know about you, but if I were toying with the idea of running to be leader of the free world, Meat Loaf is the first person I would approach for advice. And now I'm praying for the end of time... or at least praying Election Day 2012 gets here fast.

In his latest interview with anyone that will listen (in this case, the corner hot dog vendor on 38th St & 7th Ave. in Manhattan) Donald Trump not only blamed President Obama on the manipulation of high fuel prices and claimed Obama's birth certificate is now "missing," he's now blaming his financial failures on the President.

"Because of affirmative action forced on me by Obama back when no one knew who he was," Trump said, "I had to allow the blacks into my casinos. Once they hit the all-you-can-eat buffets, I knew I was sunk. But don't get me wrong, I have a great relationship with the blacks." Asked if he would do anything differently when running casinos, Trump responded, "Don't serve barbeque."

Mississippi Republican Gov. Haley Barbour will not run for president in 2012, according to a statement released Monday.

“I will not be a candidate for president next year,” Barbour said. “This has been a difficult, personal decision, and I am very grateful to my family for their total support of my going forward, had that been what I decided.”

Boss Hogg is smarter than he looks, although he's depriving us of some good television.